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United Shore CEO says there will be no layoffs at mortgage lender

The head of Pontiac-based United Shore Financial Services said Thursday there would be no layoffs at the mortgage lender, even as many Michigan businesses implement furloughs or layoffs in response to the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic.

President and CEO Mat Ishbia said on a conference call with employees that while it’s all but inevitable there will be an economic downturn over at least the next few months, United Shore will not lay off any of its 5,800 employees.

United Shore's president and CEO Mat Ishbia in the Breslin conference room at United Shore headquarter in Pontiac on Feb. 28, 2020.(Photo: Junfu Han, Detroit Free Press)

“There are no layoffs,” Ishbia said. “I’ll sleep on your couch before I lay somebody off. If this month sucks and next month sucks, I don’t care. This is tough but nobody is losing their jobs.”

He said he doesn’t know what the economic downturn will look like, but said business could drop by as much as 50%-80%.

The announcement comes as the coronavirus pandemic has brought the U.S. economy to a halt and millions of Americans have filed for unemployment. Mortgage lenders are particularly exposed because they typically must advance the planned mortgage payments to the investors — regardless of whether borrowers make the actual payments that are due — possibly leading to a cash crunch.

The promise of no layoffs came hours after the Federal Reserve announced $2.3 trillion in loans to households and employers. The Mortgage Bankers Association, an industry group, recently warned the Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve that if one-quarter of mortgage borrowers stop making payments or delay those payments for six months or more, mortgage servicing firms could be on the hook for $100 billion.